Drew Pinsky is used to fielding tough questions on his nationally syndicated radio show, "Loveline."
But when asked to explain the continued popularity of his program, which has been on the air for 20 years, the Southern California-based physician is stumped.
"I have no idea," said Pinsky, known popularly as "Dr. Drew," with a laugh. "I ask people that all the time. I still don't know what it is."
Pinsky and co-host Adam Carolla (of "The Man Show" and "Crank Yankers" fame) answer callers' questions on love, sex and relationship matters from Sunday through Thursday (broadcast locally on WZPL from 10 p.m. to midnight).
"Loveline" was also developed into an MTV series that aired for five years.
Pinsky will visit Emens Auditorium on April 12 at 7 p.m. for a talk that will involve his show, relationships and other issues pertaining to young adults. He will broadcast "Loveline" from a Muncie radio station later that night.
UPB communications director Michelle Kaltenbach said that Pinsky's MTV and radio fame made him seem like a sure bet to be a popular speaker at Ball State.
"We knew he'd get a great response," she said.
Pinsky also frequently appears on TV talk shows such as "Good Morning America," "Politically Incorrect," "The View" and "Larry King Live."
Kaltenbach also said Ball State was lucky to be able to book the celebrity since he makes a relatively small number of college appearances each year (Pinsky estimated he visits 12 to 14 per year).
Rather than just giving a monologue, Pinsky said that he prefers the audience to be involved in his presentations when he visits universities.
"The whole thing is really meant to be an interactive experience," he said. "It sometimes goes straight into a Q&A, but I challenge the audience to tackle a particular set of topics and see where it goes. Each (college visit) is different."
Pinsky said that the different approaches of men and women in relationships is one of the main topics he addresses.
"I do a lot of discussion about how profoundly different men and women experience themselves at the college age, and how little is really discussed in an honest way," he said.
Pinsky said he enjoys the opportunity to interact with college-age individuals.
"I feel so fortunate that I'm allowed into the lives of young people and that they will listen to me and interact with me," he said.
Like "Loveline," Pinsky said he aims his presentations at being informative, rather than just sheer entertainment.
"This is an educational forum," he said. "I mean, I do like relating to people, and I understand that the vehicle has to be entertaining, or people won't listen or watch. But ultimately, it's to learn something about human beings."
Throughout his career as a radio personality, Pinsky has managed to maintain a medical practice in southern California.
He received his medical degree from the University of Southern California and is a board-certified internist and addictionologist. Pinsky also serves as medical director for the Department of Chemical Dependency Services at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, Calif.
"It's like living two separate lives," he said of making rounds as a physician during the day and broadcasting his show at night.
In the early 1980s, when Pinsky first got involved in radio (he began answering callers' questions on a radio show while he was in medical school), his colleagues and superiors in the medical field criticized him for discussing medical- and sex-related issues on the air.
"I was being told that there was something wrong with me, that this was inappropriate, (that) I'm going to ruin my career," he said.
"I stopped for periods of time, even. Then AIDS broke, and then the whole safe-sex thing became important, and all of a sudden, these things that I'd had an instinct were important, everybody (in the medical profession) was getting called upon to go do."
Pinsky said that his greatest hope for his involvement with young people is that he might be able to inform them and help them make good choices.
"You guys are sitting on the launching pad of life, and if I could just help set that trajectory a little bit, so you get it into the orbit you want to get it into ... it just doesn't get better than that."
Pinsky gets a great deal of satisfaction working to help young adults, he said.
"I want my tombstone just to say, 'He made a difference.' And I don't believe you can make any more of a difference than with young people. That's where the stage is being set, and where the choices you make will have profound reverberations on the rest of your life," he said.
"I'm hoping that some of the things I have to offer will make a difference."
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